ING Groep N.V. (ADR) (ING)

A strong buy: This is a financial with no subprime in their portfolio; as such they have been hit like the other banks and lenders, but unfairly so. They have a strong growth plan both organically and through take-over (they recently bought into the investment services market with their purchase of sharebuilder). I still give them fair value at around $38-42 / share.

Business model is sound, bucks the trend for banking. Easy to use web based service keeps customer satisfaction high and costs low vs. traditional brick and mortar outfits. From day one they have told customers sub-prime and no-down payment is not an option, so bad mortgages should be far less of a hit to their bottom line.

Right now ING may not be doing well, but so is every other comapny.. They will rise to one of the top banks in the world after the economy gets better.. Their APY for savings is so much higher than any other bank I know of.

Great bank - not much of an explanation needed. I'll share more thoughts when I have a trackrecord.

Terrific value, good growth, very limited subprime exposure; when is wall street going to wake up to this?!

Aggressively acquiring deposit assets.

ING is a solid company with a great business model, fantastic technology, and a huge tribe of customers that help market through word of mouth. I would speculate that their Net Promoter Score is 20 or higher, but this is based on many assumptions.

I think the stock is highly undervalued right now due to the bailout package they received and the general performance of the sector. Expect this stock to perform better than the S&P 500 as the market begins to rebound.

I like ing but the performance against the S&P 500 is consistently low. A good return on investment if bought short.

Their business model is unique and attracts young money. Should outperform as the market slowly recovers.

A few of the comments on this board should be corrected...

ING Private Banking manages EUR 62 billion in client assets, which is a small portion of their 551.3 Billion in Total AUM (assets under management). They will not survive on peoples "bank accounts". ING Real Estate totals 106.4 Billion in assets, which lost 7.4% in the 4th quarter, so it is also false that they are "immune" to the real estate crisis. It may be beneficial that most of their income comes from the USA, but they also have a lot of exposure in Europe. This is all in their latest 4Q report: http://www.ing.com/group/showdoc.jsp?docid=039176_EN&menopt=ivr|qtr

Now, I've read that they have been trying to expand operations in eastern europe, where many global banks have not committed many resources yet. Countries like Romania, where economies are emerging and people need places to put money and invest globally. Unfortunately, these countries do not have the same economic safety measures as we do, and this will pose a problem for banks (like ING) that got involved. http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/17/business/eastbank.php

I would love ING to do well (hey, its at $7.50! what a steal! time to buy some! now I'll learn about the company i just bought!... im an idiot!) but I do not see any bright spots for them in the near future, and they are definitely nowhere near the stability of GS, JPM, MS. Yes i realize I did a thumbs up, oops.

I have many CDs with them, I have my IRA account with them and I trade stocks on sharebuilder. These guys have nailed what customers want, hopefully they don't go crazy with their success. Online clients don't want a wastefull bank with monthly papers and junk mail etc etc...just give us good interest rates...if we wanted junk we would open an account in a local bank.
When the dust settles we have to evaluate and re-evaluate what people in banks do....do we really need so many damn tellers who do nothing but are like machines..they are wasting their time and our money...also does a bank really needs cable, flat TVs, countless offices..etc etc...
ING direct has done banking without all that junk and other banks should follow

ING has some excellent products for small investors and personal savings. Bargain price right now.

I'm a customer that think they're simply the best bank I've ever dealt with, so I consider them undervalued.

Financials will rise despite the governments objections.

Unbelievable ease of use, consistent high interest, and useful new products without heavy pitches make ING the bank to beat. Customer service is top-notch, and the user interface is friendly & customizable without being cute. With the upcoming rollout of a paperless checking account, brand loyalty and satisfaction can only increase for ING.

Quality company beaten down by it's sector association.

Those who are hoping for a recovery will be disappointed. Sell early sell often

It's Dutch so it's got to be good!

This is a solid bank that should be able to withstand this downturn. They're cleaning up their balance sheets and will be a better bank once this mess is over.